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Romney Does Flip and Forces Catholic Hospitals to Distribute Morning-After-Pill
LifeSiteNews ^ | 10 December 2005 | Gudrun Schultz

Posted on 12/10/2005 4:26:35 AM PST by Aussie Dasher

BOSTON, December 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a shocking turn-around, Massachusetts’s governor Mitt Romney announced yesterday that Roman Catholic and other private hospitals in the state will be forced to offer emergency contraception to sexual assault victims under new state legislation, regardless of the hospitals’ moral position on the issue.

The Republican governor had earlier defended the right of hospitals to avoid dispensing the “morning-after pill” on the grounds of moral dissent. The Boston Globe reported that Romney’s flip on the issue came after his legal counsel, Mark D. Nielsen, concluded Wednesday that the new law supersedes a preexisting statute related to the abortifacient pill.

The pill, a high dose of hormones, acts as an abortifacient by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterine wall, thereby causing the death of the child.

The Department of Public Health issued a statement earlier in the week allowing hospitals to dissent from the new law, under a previous statute that protects private hospitals from being forced to provide abortion services or contraceptives.

Daniel Avila, associate director for policy and research for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, said yesterday in an interview with the Boston Globe that Catholic hospitals still have legal grounds to avoid providing the pill, despite the new legislation. The new bill did not expressly repeal the original law protecting the rights of Catholic facilities.

“As long as that statute was left standing, I think those who want to rely on that statute for protection for what they’re doing have legal grounds.” (Boston Globe)

The Conference has been fighting this new legislation for several years. In 2003, in a statement to the Joint Committee on Health Care, they outlined their concern over the proposed Emergency Contraception Access Act (ECAA), stating: “It will force Catholic medical personnel to distribute contraceptives even in cases involving the risk of early abortion. It also furthers a national strategy ultimately directed towards coercing Catholic facilities to provide insurance coverage for, and to perform, abortions.”

The governor’s turnaround is especially unexpected since Romney has been presenting himself as a conservative on social issues in anticipation of a possible run for the presidency in 2008. This decision will certainly undermine the credibility of his conservatism with Republican Party members that may have been inclined to support him up to now.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: abortion; byebyemitt; catholichospitals; gotohellromney; massachusetts; mittromney; moralabsolutes; morningafterpill
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Bad move Mitt. You just blew it BIG-TIME!
1 posted on 12/10/2005 4:26:37 AM PST by Aussie Dasher
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To: Aussie Dasher

Another RINO with the balls of a gnat.


2 posted on 12/10/2005 4:29:41 AM PST by sgtbono2002
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To: Aussie Dasher

I think it can safely be said that he is now unelectable to a majority of evangelicals.


3 posted on 12/10/2005 4:31:17 AM PST by XEHRpa
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To: Aussie Dasher
If St Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston (one of the largest and most important hospitals in the city) were to close its Emergency Room (in order to avoid being forced to violate Catholic teaching) it would cause an enormous flood of patients to the other hospitals,a flood that those other ERs absolutely couldn't handle.

We'll see how waiting times of 12 hours at other ERs in Boston sits with the general public.

4 posted on 12/10/2005 4:42:56 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: Gay State Conservative

They don't have to close the ER, just refuse rape victims.


5 posted on 12/10/2005 4:49:01 AM PST by Forte Runningrock
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To: Aussie Dasher

All this should tell anyone is this
doofus has no principles on this issue!

What a twisted, convoluted road way we've
paved...


6 posted on 12/10/2005 4:54:50 AM PST by sirchtruth (Words Mean Things...)
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To: Lil'freeper

ARGH!!


7 posted on 12/10/2005 5:00:19 AM PST by big'ol_freeper ("Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." Pope JPII)
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To: Forte Runningrock
No, they will have to close the ER.

If the State can order a private hospital to dispense abortion pills, then they can pass a law ordering them to do so, or even more likely, given the Masshole state legal system, a judge will simply order them to do so.

I hope they all close, and I hope Romney is defeated.

I would far rather have true democrats in office responsible for this clusterscrew than having a herd of RINOs spreading the blame on us.
8 posted on 12/10/2005 5:06:11 AM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
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To: Forte Runningrock

Just refuse rape victims. It's all the rape victim's fault anyhow.


9 posted on 12/10/2005 5:07:29 AM PST by tkathy (Ban the headscarf. (All religious headdress). The effect will creat a huge domino effect..)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Considering how Kennedy and Kerry sit with the electorate, they will simply blame it on republicans.


10 posted on 12/10/2005 5:07:52 AM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
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To: bill1952
According to the left, the establishment clause of the Constitution is violated when a Christmas creche is placed on state property. However, it is not violated when the state forces a church to violate its dogma. Am I right, is there a contradiction here?
11 posted on 12/10/2005 5:14:13 AM PST by Jacquerie (Democrats soil institutions)
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To: Aussie Dasher

This is just one of a thousand reasons to avoid Romney like the RINO plague he is.


12 posted on 12/10/2005 5:21:52 AM PST by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud, hatch out!)
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To: Gay State Conservative

What's with Romney? Another schizo Republican wannabe (i.e. RINO). So much for the conservative on social issues label.

I'm confused; would he require the private hospitals in Utah (Mormon country) to do the same if he was there or is this a typical politician playing it up to the local constituents, having no moral or ethical spine? Just wondering what kind of person he really is. He's lost my vote on several fronts as a result of this action.


13 posted on 12/10/2005 5:22:48 AM PST by john drake (roman military maxim: "oderint dum metuant, i.e., let them hate, as long as they fear")
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To: Aussie Dasher
Bad move Mitt. You just blew it BIG-TIME!

Agree. . .cannot stand on principle now. . .then he will not later.

His hair spray is more important. . .

14 posted on 12/10/2005 5:24:24 AM PST by cricket (No Freedom - No Peace)
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To: Forte Runningrock
Nope,they can't do that.The only way that they could avoid rape victims (walk-ins or by ambulance) is for them to close the ER completely.This is specified under Federal law.

I know a little bit about ERs in general,and Boston ERs in particular,because I worked in the ER of one of Boston's largest hospitals for over 20 years.

15 posted on 12/10/2005 5:28:04 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: XEHRpa
I think it can safely be said that he is now unelectable to a majority of evangelicals.

This is not just 'evangelical ground'. . .it is principle and 'religious freedom'.

These choices/decisions of individuals (including pharmacists) or collective of such;should at the least, be able to stand as a right of the 'concientious objector'. . .

That said. . .how about our 'tax dollars' supporting. . .'Left-wing dogma' in universities. . .colleges. . .all public education. . .

16 posted on 12/10/2005 5:35:40 AM PST by cricket (No Freedom - No Peace)
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To: cricket

As I've said all along, Mitt is a lite-weight fraud. He has the same commitment to principles as Al Gore. He has done NOTHING for conservatives or the Republican party in mASSachusetts. Hilary would eat him alive in any head-to-head race or debate. He is just another country club pubbie.


17 posted on 12/10/2005 5:37:29 AM PST by NHResident (i)
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To: Gay State Conservative

To be certified as a general hospital under Medicare and Medicaid regulations, hospitals must have Emergency Departments. There are specialty licenses categories that don't require E.D.'s, but few general hospitals meet those requirements.

Romney opposes the the requirement to dispense the pills, but has been advised he has no authority to over ride this.


18 posted on 12/10/2005 5:45:09 AM PST by JustTheTruth ((Truth will eventually triumph))
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To: Aussie Dasher

Sorry, Mitt, ain't gonna happen. Can't happen. What the devil were you thinking?


19 posted on 12/10/2005 5:47:16 AM PST by D.P.Roberts
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To: Aussie Dasher

Can anything good come from Massachusetts?


20 posted on 12/10/2005 5:53:42 AM PST by badpacifist (Schadenfreude)
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